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Monday, November 15, 2010

Ever since I first heard of any kind of environmental hysteria, which was during the Jimmy Carter years, I had my suspicions. For the last four decades of my life, I kept hearing that our dependency on foreign oil was detrimental to our national security. But yet, the same people that told us to cut back our thermostats to 60 degrees are the ones that are keeping us from drilling for our own oil. What is wrong with that picture? Do I really have to explain? It is such a contradiction of policy and public indoctrination, that how can you take environmental hysteria seriously?

And then, there is the way that our freedom keeps eroding. Erosion is a process, right? Over time, the Grand Canyon was created. Over a much shorter time, our beaches erode, and the process is accelerated with hurricanes. Well, folks, the hurricane is coming. I'm speaking of our liberty being eroded down to the bare bone before our eyes, and it will come from the far left environmental extremists.

In my humble opinion, I believe that the truth about environmental activism is that it's just a cover to justify limitations on our freedoms. I am sure that you are aware that our kids are terrified every day with the constant images of world-wide environmental catastrophes. Now that the public indoctrination centers have hooked the children, the next phase is to turn religion green:

I can only conclude that the Left is whittling away at our liberty. And to think, environmental hysteria is just one of the weapons of choice for the Progressives. But in this case, they have a united global front going for them, through the United Nations. Keep in mind, to paraphrase something that Ronald Reagan told us, "if America goes, you will have no where left to go for freedom." Not even a remote island. Just sayin'...

My first thought upon reading about this exercise is that the Norfolk Islanders are forfeiting their freedom for environmental slavery. It is about to become a penal colony to progressivism, an experiment in green shackles that the fascist overlords hope will spread. Today, the island. Tomorrow, the world!

The old saying "No man is an island" is certainly being underscored. As the inhabitants of Norfolk Island are about to discover, even the freedom to be left alone in the middle of nowhere is coming to an end.

The second type live green ostensibly because they're concerned about the environment. Specifically, they believe humans are causing global warming and that people must scale back their lifestyles and resource consumption to live more sustainably on Mother Earth.

The biggest difference between the first and the second type of "greenies" is the first type has no interest in forcing you to live the way they do. They are simply doing what's best for their bottom line.

The second type would love nothing more than to compel you to live according to their beliefs. With nothing short of religious fervor, they try to convert you through a biased media and public-education indoctrination; and if that fails, they will force you to comply through government-backed regulations.

In short, we could describe the first group as frugal and the second group as thugs.

Keep this in mind as I introduce you to Norfolk Island, a tiny dot (population 1,800) in the middle of the vast ocean between Australia and New Zealand. Once upon a time it was a cruel place, part of Australia's penal colony system, but today it is a beautiful little jewel in the middle of the water.

I found it one evening by trolling Google Earth for isolated islands after my husband and I joked about moving when conditions in the U.S. became too socialistic. When I mentioned it in a column last year, I received a charming e-mail from a woman named Coral who invited me to visit. (Coral, if you're reading this, my e-mails back to you have always bounced. Please try contacting me again.) The impression I received is that Norfolk Island is a place I'd love to see.

But no more. Poor little Norfolk Island, it seems, is about to undergo an experiment in the name of fascism … (cough) sorry, I mean environmental activism.

The "warmies" (as the Australian environmentalists are called), with the enthusiastic participation of the Australian government, have concocted a scheme whereby the Norfolk Islanders will be issued a "carbon credit card" pre-loaded with a set amount of carbon credits to use over the course of a year. Every time the islanders buy gasoline, purchase some "fatty" imported food, or fly to the mainland to visit relatives, they get dinged. At the end of the year, those with leftover credits can sell them or cash them in, while those who used up their carbon credits early must buy more.

During the second year of the experiment, the number of carbon credits will be decreased. Ditto during the third and final year of this experiment. The goal, allegedly, is to make the islanders "trim, taut and terrifically moral." But of course, you and I know the real goal: to compel the islanders to live like good little global citizens according to the stringent and merciless criteria of the "warmies."

Reporters writing on this experiment were careful to select only cheerfully compliant people to interview about their thoughts. Garry Egger, professor of lifestyle medicine at Southern Cross University, is quick to point out his scheme will be voluntary and could provide islanders with cash for unused carbon credits. "We are not trying to impose ourselves on anybody out there," he said.

But in another article, Mr. Egger reveals his true agenda: "If (Norfolk residents) are in favour of it then it would justify scaling it up to a country level and ultimately to a world level."

Andrew Bolt, a columnist with the Herald Sun in Sydney, points out how this kind of social experiment was proposed in 2006 in Britain. The idea was endorsed and its proponents "insisted the Government defy howls of protest from mere voters." [Emphasis added.] Mr. Bolt also quotes members of Parliament as saying, "Widespread public acceptance, while desirable, should not be a pre-condition for a personal carbon trading scheme; the need to reduce emissions is simply too urgent." This was said, presumably with a straight face, before the members of Parliament were "driven off to dinner."

Australian Greens candidate Clive Hamilton believes "that climate change in the very near future will be 'so horrible that we [must] look to any possible scenario to head it off, including the canvassing of "emergency" responses such as the suspension of democratic processes.'" [Emphasis added.]

In other words, these enviro-fascists believe mythical global warming is so important that it makes for a wonderfully convenient excuse to "save the planet" through enslavement. The experiment with Norfolk Island demonstrates that environmentalists, at their core, are bullies. They want you to behave the way they dictate or else (ominous music in background).